A TL lamp is a conventional and well-known type of lamp. It generally comprises a gas-filled tube and two spaced-apart electrodes, which receive electrical power. In order to be able to power such lamp from AC mains, typically 230 V @ 50 Hz in Europe, a TL lighting system comprises a ballast, and for starting the lamp the system conventionally includes a starter switch. While a conventional ballast is a cupper ballast, more advanced ballasts are electronic ballasts.
In the past years, LED lighting technology has been rapidly developed, and LEDs have been more and more used for the purpose of illumination as an alternative to incandescent or TL lamps. However, there is also a desire for retrofit, i.e. it is desirable to provide an LED lamp device that has the shape of a standard TL lamp, i.e. a tube shape, and that can be used to replace such standard TL lamp. This shape puts restrictions on the space that is available for the components of the lamp device.
A specific class of tube-shaped LED lamps relates to lamps that can be remote controlled, i.e. wirelessly controlled, using RF signals. Such lamp will in the context of the present invention be indicated as “wireless LED tube lamp device”. One of the essential components of such lamp device is an antenna for receiving command signals. For good performance, size is an important feature of such antenna, but size is limited in an LED tube lamp device: the size of structural components must obviously be less than the tube diameter.
Another important component of such lamp device is an elongate metal spine running a substantial part of the entire length of the tube. This spine has two important functions: on the one hand it gives rigidity to the tube, on the other hand it acts as a heat sink for the LEDs. Electronic circuitry are located at the far ends of the tube, adjacent the spine. This electronic circuitry includes for instance driver electronics for the LEDs. This electronic circuitry also includes a wireless control circuit with an antenna.
US20130328481A1 disclosed a LED tube with a curved cover part, and an antenna is affixed to the curved cover part.